Slow Down, Baby
by smc-27
Summary: Nate/Serena Oneshot based on the latest promo. "Nate, I think we should try to take this slow." She's biting her lip again and staring at his mouth, and when she kisses him, she thinks he meets her in the middle.


**A/N:** Wrote this quickly today after watching the promo for about the 30th time. This exists pretty much solely because I'm impatient and this hiatus has been way, way too long. Hope you like it!

**----**

"I should go," she says. They're standing in his suite, and she's supposed to go to her mom's place to talk about possible job opportunities, but then Nate's fingers tangle with hers and she kind of can't see anything but him.

He kissed her last night, finally, and she came over just now to talk to Blair, who isn't here, and Nate's wearing these pants and this shirt, and it all looks _so good_ on him, and it's really hard to be around him right now. She doesn't know what this is, what they are, but she wants it, whatever it is.

He looks at her, doesn't say anything, and he's thinking that no, she most definitely _shouldn't_ go. He's just gotten home from class, and she was sitting there on his couch in this heavy sweater that looks so soft it makes him want to touch her even more. Her hair's down and a little messy, and her jacket is draped over a chair like it belongs there. Then she stood up and he noticed the boots she's wearing, and she's the same height as him, right in front of him, and he doesn't want her to leave. Not at all.

"Do you have to?" he asks. There's a grin on his lips, and she smiles and bites her bottom lip before he leans in and kisses her gently. "No?"

"Yes."

He grins and shakes his head slowly. "_I _heard a no." He kisses her again.

"Nate," she says against his lips. But then she kisses him, and he laughs when she sighs and lets herself step closer to him.

She pulls away after a second, putting space between them so they're not touching at all. She flips her hair over her shoulders and kind of shakes her arms a little bit, and he thinks it's really cute, the way she's trying to compose herself. (He knows her well enough to know that she's failing at it.)

"So what brings you by?" he asks seriously, crossing his arms. He figures if she's trying to be 'normal' and control her urges, the least he can do is to try and do the same. It's not easy.

"Blair. I mean, I wanted to talk to her. But she's not here."

"Oh yeah?" His grin is lopsided and he steps forward. "What about?"

"Nothing specific," she says. She can't hide her smile, and she watches his eyes flick down to her lips. "Nate, I think we should _try_ to take this slow."

She's biting her lip again and staring at his mouth, and when she kisses him, she thinks he meets her in the middle. His hands land on her waist (her sweater is _really_ soft). She brings one hand up to feather through his hair, and the other rests just above his elbow. He's walking her backwards towards the couch, and he's sure she's going to tell him to stop or something, but then she breaks the kiss and lays down with _the_ most seductive look _ever_ on her face. Her legs are parted just enough for him to lay between them and he brushes the hair back from her forehead before he leans down again to kiss her.

He feels so amazing pressed up against her that her back arches a little bit and she bites back the moan that threatens to escape. His hand is on her hip beneath her sweater, resting on the warm skin there, and her fingers rest at the back of his neck, tucked just beneath the collar of his shirt.

When his tongue sweeps into her mouth, she notices that he tastes like coffee and ginger (he loves those ginger cookies at the coffee shop he goes to), and she laughs a little bit. He pulls away a little, looks at her with a raised brow.

"You taste like cookies," she says.

He smiles, leans down to peck her lips, and says, "you taste perfect," and it doesn't even sound cheesy, because she knows he _means_ it.

She pulls him back towards her and kisses him like he's the man who's just said all the right things, and one of her hands goes to work on the buttons of his shirt while the other slips beneath the fabric at the small of his back. Her hand feels so hot on his skin, and he hopes she feels half as good kissing him as he feels kissing her. He's pretty sure they're on the same page there.

"This...isn't...slow," he says between kisses to her jaw line.

She angles her head and presses her chest against his. His shirt is open now, and she runs her hand over his shoulder beneath it, trying to push the fabric down. He moves away long enough to pull one arm from his sleeve, then the other, and he drops his shirt on the floor. She does that sexy lip biting thing again as she runs her hands over his chest before they settle on his back.

"Matter of opinion," she says, looking into his eyes. "We could be going faster."

He groans and drops his head to her shoulder, nuzzling his face against her neck. "S, you just said..."

"Then you kissed me like that."

He pulls away, his jaw dropped. "_You_ kissed _me_."

She tries to shrug her shoulder, and her eyes are navy blue and sparkling. This is the silliest argument he's ever had, and he thinks that he loves her.

"Details," she mutters before catching his lips again. She bends her legs at the knee so he's pressed right against her, and she swallows the moan that leaves his throat. "You wanna stop?"

"No," he says before kissing her. She laughs softly. "Yes." Her hands run down his back. "No."

"So indecisive, Nate," she says teasingly. "We should talk."

"You should stop kissing me."

"Really?" she asks, pressing her lips to his. "Don't want to."

He pulls away, braces his weight on his arm as he looks down at her. Her lips are pinker than usual and her face is a little flushed. "Well, not like...not like for_ever_," he says.

She laughs, because she didn't need him to specify that part, but she thinks it's so cute that he did. Her hands run up and down his back, and she notices goosebumps forming on his skin. "You cold?" she asks. He locks eyes with her as he shakes his head. She blushes (a rare feat.) "Oh."

He grins again and pecks her lips. "Talking?" he asks. She nods, and he tries to pull away, but she holds him in place.

"I like you here," she says, looking at him through hooded eyes.

So he stays right where he is, her nails running lightly over his skin. "You know where I stand, Serena. What I want and...and how I feel about you."

She smiles all cute and nods. "Yeah, I do. I've known for a while. Since you told me," she says. He looks down, hiding his eyes, and she kisses his cheek gently so he won't be embarrassed. "And then you kissed me last night."

"Yeah." She doesn't say anything when his eyes meet hers, and he thinks it is both strange and perfect that they're having this conversation when he's laying shirtless on top of her on his couch. "Thoughts on that, by the way?" he asks, sort of teasingly.

"I didn't hate it," she says, eyes gleaming with mischief. He laughs a little bit, and it hums through her body. "Actually, I haven't stopped thinking about you since."

"That good, huh?" He raises one brow, like he's impressed with his ability to get inside her head. (She thinks he's an expert; he's been doing it for years.)

"Nate, I want to do this with you," she says seriously. "A...a real relationship. No secrets or anything." He smiles and she thinks her heart might beat out of her chest. "And I'm scared, because it's us, and we never get anything right, but...I think we can this time."

He lets out an audible sigh of relief and nods gently. He takes a lock of her hair between his thumb and index finger and plays with it. "I think so too."

"It might be hard," she admits quietly. "And I'm scared that if it doesn't work..."

"I think it will," he interrupts. "If ya hadn't noticed, I'm kinda crazy about you."

She laughs girlishly and holds him closer. "I noticed."

"And you're a little crazy about me too?" he asks. He's smiling and she kisses him gently.

"A lot crazy about you."

"Good," he whispers against her cheek. "No being scared." Her eyes flutter closed as he kisses a line along her jaw, then down the side of her neck. "We'll get it right this time."

"Pretty confident," she says, smiling as she hooks her thumbs through the belt loops of his pants at his sides. "What happened to indecisive Nate?"

He pulls away a little bit, but his hand moves up a little higher beneath her shirt. "Got the girl," he says simply.

She takes his face in her hands and kisses him full on the lips. "Nate, you idiot," she says, shaking her head. "You always had me."

He kisses her and it's like her hands are everywhere on his skin. He pushes up her sweater, letting his hands run over the soft, smooth skin of her stomach, and she sits up, her hips pressing against his, to let him take the garment off her. She's wearing a purple bra and he runs his hand over the lace at her back as she lays down again.

"I like that sweater," he says, sliding his hand down her bare side.

She smiles. "Thanks. It's new," she says, and he laughs, because he thinks it's adorable that she's giving him that information now.

They get a little (a lot) caught up, and then the straps of her bra are slipping down her arms as he kisses her, and she should be cold, but she's hot everywhere, and his lips on her skin make her forget everything else anyway. His weight on her and his hands and his lips feel like everything she's ever wanted, and she can smell his cologne, and his hair is soft when she runs her hands through it. She's been teasing him about using Blair's shampoo (_"It's just in the bathroom!"_ he'll say) but she really likes the feel of his hair between her fingertips.

He thinks this is crazy, how they just decided everything so quickly. Granted, it's been going on since before Thanksgiving, this tension between them, building towards _something_, and she's finally in a place where she feels comfortable enough to acknowledge it. He's waited, given her space because she needed it and he understood. He didn't want to rush her, so he's been her friend and nothing more (but wanting more) until she got herself sorted out. And actually, he thinks that them rushing into anything too soon would have been a terrible idea. The time has been really good.

This is _so_ much better.

She reaches for the button at the front of his pants and he sucks in a breath. "We should..." She tugs down his zipper and kisses him. "My room." She literally pouts. He nips at her bottom lip. "Blair'll be home any second."

She does his zipper back up, brushing against him in the process, and she giggles when he lets out a hot breath against her collar bone.

He stands first, looking down at her, shirtless and breathless on his sofa, then he reaches for her hand and pulls her up. His hands find her waist as she kind of crashes against him, and he laughs a little when she wraps her arms lazily around his neck and kisses him. It's like she can't get enough of him, which is good, because he can't get enough of her.

His hands are on her back, resting lightly on her bare skin, her hair tickling his fingertips, and he thinks that they really, really need to get into his bedroom. He starts walking her backwards toward the door to his room, and he catches her any time she stumbles. She literally will not take her lips off his, and he's glad. She trips over her feet for the third time, and he wraps both arms around her waist, lifting her feet up off the floor so he's carrying her. A giggle leaves her throat when he kicks the door closed and sets her down so her knees are hitting the edge of the mattress.

She reaches for the front of her jeans, but he grabs her hands, weaving her fingers together with his. She looks at him questioningly, maybe just a little disappointed, and the grin he gives her makes her dizzy.

"We should _try_ to take this slow," he says, his voice all low and sexy.

She bites her lip again, and he kisses her before he has to look at it any longer, or he'd change his mind for sure.

Serena very rarely does anything slowly. As she sinks into the mattress with Nate's lips fused to hers, she thinks she might like it.

**_-Fin-_**


End file.
